Vatican City
The smallest country in the world offers the heart of Catholicism and among the
world's finest art collections, including the Sistine Chapel and the Raphael
Rooms (ceiling pictured). Go to Vatican City!

Austria
Belvedere Palace (pictured) is just one of many palaces found in Vienna. The capital
is a good start to Austria, which also features the Alps, the Lakes District, and
incredible history & food. Go Now!

Ukraine
Ukrainian culture is based on village life, particularly that found in the Carpathian
Mountains (pictured). Begin Your Journey!

Architecture of Belarus

All Saint's Church in Minsk

Belarus's architectural history is scant at best. As
a periphery land to many foreign occupiers and kingdoms, Belarus has rarely been
the recipient of great wealth or the ability to build lavish buildings in the style
of choice for much of Europe. For these reasons, most of
Belarus's historical architecture was domestic/home architecture, which was
rarely built to last or was church architecture.

Much of the church architecture in Belarus is similar to
either Russian or Polish churches,
based upon when they were built and for whom they were built. The Russian styled
churches are generally Eastern Orthodox and are a distant relative to the early
Byzantine churches from Constantinople (modern day Istanbul). The Polish styled
churches tend to be more Central European and vary from style to style based upon
when they were built. These churches can be found throughout the country, but many
were destroyed during World War II.

The other significant architectural style that made an impact on
Belarus also came from Russia in the early 1900s
when the Soviets incorporated Belarus into the Soviet Union. From this point until
the fall of the Soviet Union in 1991 most of the buildings erected in Belarus were
modern concrete bloc buildings with functional means winning over aesthetics. Due
to the devastation on the country from World War II, much of the country is now
in this style.

The two most notable exceptions to all of the above movements are the Mir Castle
complex and the Radziwill family's Nesvizh Castle. The Mir Castle complex has
architecture representing nearly every style from the 1400s until the 1800s while
the Radziwill compound has buildings from the 1500s on. Both of these are the pinnacle
of Belarusian architecture.